Madison — Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp on Tuesday defended Gov. Scott Walker's plan to turn the Natural Resources Board into an advisory panel, instead of one that makes policy, even as she acknowledged she had not been consulted on the proposal in advance.

"I feel that it's extra layers," Stepp said of the board in a briefing to the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee. "I think it's duplicative."

The idea has sparked opposition from Democrats as well as some of Walker's fellow Republicans. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) said he had "some concerns" about the plan.(47)

If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp., then so is chief executive Michael Koss, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

In a suit filed last week, the bank argues that if a jury finds Park Bank liable for the loss, then Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, the firm's former auditor, should have to pay some of the award.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," Park Bank wrote in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss in this case those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(1)

Election autopsy: What I got wrong (a lot)...and right (a little)

At about 8:30 last night, it was clear Mitt Romney wasn't getting the margins he needed in Virginia, Florida, and Ohio to win the presidency. I told a friend of mine that I had to be up early to talk about the election results on the radio. She said she had to be up to go to the dentist. "I'll happily trade with you," I said.

Last night was very much like a root canal. There's no dancing around it - I thought there was an intensity out there among Republicans that wasn't being measured by the polls, and I thought Romney would pull out a narrow win. We all know how that prediction went.

If there's any silver lining for Republicans, it's that a number of Romney's losses in the most hotly contested swing states were real squeakers. We still don't know who won Florida, although President Obama has a slight lead. Virginia and Ohio were each decided by around two percentage points. A few votes here and there and it's a different race.

But there's no candy coating the fact that Romney won exactly zero of the most crucial swing states. He took the golden sombrero in Florida (as far as we know), Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Colorado. He needed to win them all; he didn't win one.

I actually predicted Romney wouldn't win Wisconsin, so I was right on that count. The polls over the past two years had just been bullet-proof for Obama; I thought even the pick of Paul Ryan would prove not to be enough. When the final pre-election Marquette poll came out and had Obama up eight percentage points, the sample with leaners was +5% Democrat; as I pointed out on Twitter, that was the same partisan sample as the final pre-recall election Marquette poll, which called Scott Walker's victory on the nose.

Although I didn't have Romney winning Wisconsin, I did think Tommy Thompson would win his race for the U.S. Senate, and was pretty early in predicting it. But now, in the span of two years, Wisconsin has elected Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Tammy Baldwin - two bookends on the ideological scale in the Senate. Tommy just never recovered from the late summer blitzkrieg Baldwin dumped on his head.

I thought it would be a bad night for Republicans in the U.S. Senate overall. I picked the knucklehead twins, Richard Mourdock (IN) and Todd Akin (MO), to both lose, along with Scott Brown of Massachusetts. In reality, the Senate ended up being a bloodbath for the GOP - it appears they didn't win a single seat among the most competitive on the board.

At the beginning of October, I called the State Senate at 18-15. And that's what happened - although, in fairness, this was an easy one. The State Assembly was never really in doubt, although Republicans picked up a seat, which was a surprise. (Plus, the Democrat who defeated Roger "some girls rape easy" Rivard is just renting that seat until the state GOP can come up with a plausible candidate.)

The good news for conservatives is that it's only 1,460 days until America elects President Ryan. (The internet doesn't actually save these predictions, right?)

Editor's Note: Purple Wisconsin is a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum. The Journal Sentinel hosts these blogs as a way to encourage thoughtful debate about the important issues facing Wisconsin and the Milwaukee region. The opinions voiced here are those of the individual bloggers alone; they are responsible for their posts. The Journal Sentinel does not edit or direct the bloggers in any fashion.

Christian Schneider is a freelance writer based in Madison and a regular contributor to National Review Online. He holds a master's degree from Marquette University in political science. His op-eds have been featured in The New York Times, New York Post, City Journal Magazine and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.